EARTH WORKS INSTITUTE RECEIVES TOGETHERGREEN INNOVATION GRANT
Nearly $1.1 Million in Funding from Audubon and Toyota’s Conservation Initiative to Support Local, Solutions-Based Environmental Projects Nationwide.
44 projects will be receiving a total of $1.1 million in the latest round of TogetherGreen Innovation Grants. This will mark the fourth year of TogetherGreen funding to facilitate people-powered conservation action in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Taking place in 27 states, these projects are selected for innovation; potential gains in habitat, water, and energy conservation; and opportunities to engage new audiences in protecting the environment.
Since 2008, the TogetherGreen Innovation Grants program has awarded over $4.7 million to more than 160 environmental projects nationwide. The 2011 awardees are receiving grants ranging from $5,000 - $50,000. Funds were awarded to partnerships, mostly between Audubon groups (local Chapters or programs of Audubon’s large national network) and organizations in their communities. This year’s grant projects involve more than 150 partner organizations nationwide. Many of the projects focus on engaging audiences that have traditionally been under-served by the conservation movement, from urban youth to rural ranchers.
LOCATION: SANTA FE, NM
PARTNERING ORGANIZATION: RANDAL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER
GRANT AMOUNT: $28,650.00
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN PROJECT
• Earth Works Institute
• Randall Davey Audubon Center
• Institute of American Indian Arts
• Rio Gallinas School
• Santa Fe High School
New Mexico, like many other states, is facing an exhausting set of environmental challenges. From excessive wildfires to habitat loss, the state needs educated conservationists and elected officials who are ready to tackle the issues at hand. Perhaps more importantly, the state needs to plant seeds of conservation in all of its diverse communities in order to create a populace devoted to a sustainable state in the future.
With the help of their 2011 Innovation Grant, Earth Works Institute and Audubon New Mexico will work with the Institute of American Indian Arts, Rio Gallinas School, and Santa Fe High School to reduce each school’s ecological footprint. The students—from largely Hispanic, Native American, and/or low-income backgrounds—will learn how to conduct ecological footprint assessments, develop action plans to reduce their footprints, and implement demonstration projects that build student leadership capacity and reduce greenhouse gasses. Earth Works Institute’s “4C” youth workforce, the Climate Change Conservation Corps, will help, while Audubon New Mexico will educate key decision makers and members of the media in the community about the importance of conservation, with a specific focus on these student-driven projects.
This grant will help advance each school’s commitment to site-based food production, recycling, and composting, and generate awareness in the community about energy efficiency measures.
